Roll the Dice at the Monte Carlos in Monaco

Whether you’ve read stories about Stephanie and Caroline’s scandalous exploits, watched the Grand Prix or dreamed of gambling at the Monte Carlos, pretty much everyone has heard of Monaco. When Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier their fairy tale wedding put Monaco on the map and that is whereI spent the following day. This tiny glamorous country is the second smallest in the world next to Vatican City. With a surface area of 485 acres, 100 of which were recovered from the sea in the past 20 years, it has been a Constitutional Monarchy and Principality under the rule of the Grimaldi family since 1297, although their defense is still the responsibility of France. The world’s most densely populated sovereign country is a popular tax haven for the rich and famous since the state has no personal income tax. Eighty-four percent of its inhabitants consist of wealthy foreigners and its main source of income is tourism. Monaco does not have a navy or air force; however, it does have the largest police force per capita in the world with just over 500 police officers for 32,000 people. The country is so well policed that when I walked on the grass in a park to take a picture of a statue, a police officer warned me to stay off the grass. I arrived at 11am, just in time to race up to the palace and catch the changing of the guards; a daily ritual in Monaco. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the handsome, well-dressed guards change. In fact, I could watch guards change all day. When the guards were done changing, I walked around the palace square and checked out the amazing view of the harbor before taking an audio tour of the palace. The palace was founded in 1191 as a Genoese (a republic in Italy that no longer exists) fortress but has been conquered by many foreign powers. Francois Grimaldi seized it in 1297 when he dressed up as a monk seeking shelter at the castle.

Once inside he killed the guard while his men captured the castle. Today a statue of Francois disguised as a monk stands outside the palace to commemorate this event. The Grimaldis were exiled in the 18thcentury during the French Revolution and the castle was used as a military hospital and poorhouse. The Principality of Monaco was restored to the family under the 1814 Treaty of Paris and they set about restoring the badly neglected palace. In 1861, Monaco gave half of its territory to France in exchange for cash and independence. Prince Charles II, who occupied the throne at the time, realized that much of the countries natural resources now belonged to France. In order for the country to survive, he had to establish a new economic base. He established the Societe des Bains de Mer consisting of a few hotels, a theater, and a casino, which flourished into the magnificent district of Monte-Carlo.Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III In 1949 when Prince Rainier III ascended the throne, the fortune and reputation of Monaco and its royal family that had so badly declined began to turn around. The Prince and his wife, Grace Kelly, restored the run down palace and turned it into the headquarters of a thriving business with the aim of lessening Monaco’s dependence on the gambling industry. In April of 1955, 25-year-old Academy Award winning actress Grace Kelly headed the US delegation at the Cannes Film Festival. She was invited to participate in a photo session at the Palace of Monaco where she first laid eyes on 31-year-old bachelor Prince Rainier III. A 1918 treaty with France stated that if Rainier did not produce an heir to the throne, Monaco would revert to France. The handsome prince (once known as the wealthiest bachelor in the world) broke off his plans to marry his infertile girlfriend and was on the hunt for a wife with whom he could produce an heir. When she returned to America, Kelly starred in a movie called The Swan, in which she ironically played the role of a princess. After their meeting, Kelly and the Prince secretly corresponded until December when Rainier made a trip to the United States. He met with the actress and her family and then proposed three days later. She accepted and the wedding was set for April 19, 1956. Grace Kelly was apparently destined to be royalty. In 1949 she briefly dated the Shaw of Iran who was quite smitten with her and showered her with expensive jewelry and gifts. She returned the gifts and gave the jewelry to her bridesmaids as keepsakes on the eve of her wedding to Rainier. Thousands of fans waved goodbye to Kelly as she and her entourage left the New York Harbor for the 8-day voyage to Monaco where she was greeted by over 20,000 people. The couple was married first in the Palace Throne Room in a civil ceremony then later in a church ceremony with over 600 guests including a bevy of Hollywood movie stars. In fact Queen Elizabeth II refused to attend on the grounds of there being “too many movie stars”. The ceremony was watched by an estimated 30 million television viewers and the entire adult population of Monaco (3000 at the time) was invited to the reception. As a wedding gift, the people of Monaco bought the couple a Rolls Royce convertible.

The changing of the guards at the palace in Monaco

A view of Monacos' Royal Palace from the Exotic Garden

That same night the couple left for a 7-week honeymoon on a yacht given to the Princess as a wedding present from her husband. Exactly nine months and four days after the wedding, Princess Grace gave birth to their first child Princess Caroline. Prince Albert II was born a year later and Princess Stephanie came along 8 years later. Princess Grace was a genuine, caring person who was loved by the people of Monaco and people from all over the world. In 1951 she took a stand against racism while dining at the Stork Club in New York. When black singer/dancer Josephine Baker entered the restaurant and was refused service, Kelly, who was dining there at the time, saw the incident and took Josephine by the arm leaving with her party and vowing never to return again. From that day on, Baker and Kelly were lifelong friends. As the Princess of Monaco, she formed the Princess Grace Foundation to support local artisansand also planned yearly Christmas parties for local orphans. In 1981 she and Prince Rainier celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately the princess’s life was cut short on September 13th 1982 when she suffered a stroke while driving with her daughter Stephanie. She drove her vehicle off the road and down the mountainside where she was pulled out alive but never regained consciousness. She died in the hospital the following day while Princess Stephanie suffered a serious cervical fracture but survived. Four hundred guests attended the funeral service that took place in Saint Nicholas Cathedral (also known as the Monaco Cathedral). Among them were several representatives of foreign governments, a group of US film star veterans and Princess Diana (the only member of the British royal family to attend). Nearly 100 million people worldwide watched the funeral on television. Prince Rainier never remarried and was buried alongside his princess following his death in 2005. He was the world’s second longest reigning monarch with 56 years under his belt. During his reign he was responsible for making reforms to Monaco’s constitution and expanding the economy beyond gambling. When Rainier ascended the throne, in 1949, gambling accounted for 95% of the nation’s annual revenue and today it accounts for a mere 3%. Monaco is a hot spot for tourists with so much to see and do. After my palace tour, I took a ride around the country on the Petite Train, visited the aquarium then strolled through the garden path that leads from the palace to the harbor. When I got to the center of town I noticed they were setting up a race course. How cool would it be to watch a race on the Grand Prix route? I returned the following day.

A race in Monaco

This large cave is located in the Exotic Gardens of Monaco

The Monaco Grand Prix I got off the train and walked straight to the race track. The cars went by so fast it was hard to take pictures. Thank God for digital cameras. After a bit of practice I learned how to move the camera with the car while taking the picture so that the car was in focus and the background was blurry. It made me want to come back one day for the Grand Prix - one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world forming the Triple Crown along with the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Graham Hill was the only racer in history to complete the Triple Crown of Motorsport by winning all three races. Born in 1929 in Hampstead, London, the British race car driver and two-time Formula One World Champion was killed one foggy night in 1975 when the plane he was piloting crashed. Graham Hill Road in Scotts Valley, California was named after the driver as well as a road in Silverstone village in England. He was once quoted as saying “I’m an artist, the track is my canvas and the car is my brush.” As of 2007, the event, which takes six weeks to set up and three weeks to take down, was the only Formula One event to be held in the centre of a town. Since the first race in 1929, Monaco has only produced three Formula One drivers, Loise Chiron, Andre Testut and Olivier Beretta but, because it is a tax haven, it has been the adopted home of many a driver. I spent the second part of my day walking from one end of the country to the next looking for any signs of graffiti, doggy-do, beggars and all the other un-pleasantries that desecrate most cities. Even in the least desirable of neighborhoods I was only able to find a skiff of graffiti and the occasional doggie landmine but nothing noteworthy. How weird is that? Perhaps all the camera surveillance and police presence really worked. Paris may want to invite big brother in.

The Exotic GardensI abandoned my quest to uncover Monaco’s dark side and made my way to the Exotic Gardens – a collection of succulent plants from all over the world displayed in an open-air setting. Cactus is the best known of this family of plants that thrive in dry climates. The gardens have accumulated over 1000 different species of cacti and other succulent plants since the turn of the 20th century. A small cover charge included entrance to the gardens, the Anthropology Museum and a tour of a large cave. The Anthropology Museum was founded by Prince Albert in 1902 then moved to the gardens in 1955. It houses a collection of archeological remains found around Monaco and surrounding areas. I ended my visit with a tour of the huge cave in the center of the park. The cave, which was opened to the public in 1950, was much larger than the cave in Thor. Hundreds of steps brought my group to the bottom of the cave where our guide gave us a brief history of the site…in English. The Monte Carlo I ended the day with a visit to the famous Monte Carlo Casino but didn’t go inside because I was too cheap to pay the 20 Euro cover charge. I had already gambled in Nice and it didn’t go that well for me. Unsure how to play, I just plugged coins in and randomly pushed buttons (which were all in French) until I lost my money. I do, however, regret not going inside the casino as it is a place rich with history. In 1854 gambling was legalized by prince Florestan I and by 1858, the construction of the Monte Carlo was underway. Initially a 50-year concession to operate the gaming rooms was granted to Francois Blanc but since 1898 the gaming room has been operated by Societe des Bains de Mer, a private company in which the government holds a majority interest.

In 1910 the building was expanded to include a theatre which is now the headquarters of the Monte Carlo Ballet. The casino, which has been the setting for two James Bond movies: Never Say Never Again and Golden Eye, was also the location for Once upon a Crime. It also hosts the annual European Poker Tour Grand Final – the most prestigious poker tournament in Europe. In 1873, the Monte Carlos attracted international media attention when gambler Joseph Jagger discovered a bias in one of its roulette wheels. He capitalized on it by breaking the bank a number of times. (Breaking the bank in this sense meant winning all the money that was held at the table by the croupier or dealer). According to the book Busting Vegas, by Ben Mezrich, a group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology formed a blackjack team led by Victor Cassius. They attempted to break the bank at the Monte Carlo by using a team based gambling system. The book was turned into the 2008 movie “21” starring Kevin Spacey as Victor Cassius and Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth as members of the blackjack team. After taking some pictures of the casino it was time to pack my bags and move to my next destination.